NewsWest 9
It's a normal day at home in the Ordonez household. The kids are watching TV, dinner is on the stove. The one difference; Gabriela Ordonez's home is an RV.
"We used to live in Miami," Gabriela Ordonez said. "My husband's friend found out about the oilfield work and he found a job for him. So, we just moved over here."
Turns out oilfield jobs are why many people in West Texas come home to an RV.
"The Lord brought us out here," Patsy Medlin said. "He got my husband a good job on the oilfield and we've been in an RV about two and a half years. We love it. It's easy living here."
Families who live in RVs say they have everything they need. They have electricity, sewer service and access to simple luxuries like cable and Internet.
Dean Wilson, owner of the Coliseum Mobile and RV Park, says the lifestyle has been going on for years.
"I'd say about five years ago when it first started really getting busy," Wilson said. "(That's) when I had to turn people away."
He says there are many benefits. Here it's only $250 a month in rent. Families say that's a lot cheaper than buying a house or renting an apartment. And if jobs dry up in West Texas, they're not stuck.
"If things change, you can always pick up and move without a big hassle," Esley Anderson said. "I can just latch on and go."
Ordonez and Wilson say it's a lifestyle many choose to follow.
"Oh yeah," Ordonez said. "I've got friends and my cousin, she does the same."
"Right now, it's all oilfield," Wilson said. "If the oil business went down I'd have a mixture of some college kids and some retirees living here."
